Need opinions on red spinel

[ItsMainelyYou]

If that cushion comes out looking as candy like as that last picture, you're going to be super chuffed! I'm excited for you. Fingers crossed!

 

[Dr_Diesel]

Little late here.

As Dr, Diesel wrote, I would not recut it. I have had bad experience with that too, but most of those stones were shallow cut to begin with, so this might not be the case here as the lapidary has a lot more stone to work with which greatly helps. Had much better luck having deep stones recut.


The dark areas on the middle if the stone's table are extinction, but again like Dr. Diesel had mentioned it might only be the angle or it can also be the lighting. Many stones show more extinction in some light than others. Especially in sunlight. Looks like these pictures were taken in sunlight. Probably shaded sunlight, but a good red Spinel is one of the few stones that won't close up in direct sunlight because of fluorescence. Also, finger pictures often have dark areas where the skin of the fingers are touching the stone and black camera reflection does not help. Another thing is the camera blocks the light. Put a camera between the stone and your eyes and there is a shadow cast on the stone from the camera. So, a stone will always look brighter with no obstruction by any object in between.

I really don't think the stones has been pictures have been tampered with much. The fingers don't look to red to me. Some people have very pink fingers. But it was probably adjusted a little bit to try to capture the color as best they could.

As mentioned, I would ask for a video. One outside and one under artificial light.

If the price is right, you may have a very nice Spinel.

Good point about the steep pavilion angles & dark areas where the skin is touching. Thank you for the insight!

 

[CaseyLouLou]

If that cushion comes out looking as candy like as that last picture, you're going to be super chuffed! I'm excited for you. Fingers crossed!

@Autumn in New England

It’s here! I like it a lot. It’s very clean and very red. I can’t see the orange in person but I’m not very good with undertones and this one supposedly has a slight orange undertone but not much. It’s very very hard to photograph because my iPhone seems to want to desaturate it and turn it pink so these photos are the ones that look closest to what I see in various lighting. It isn’t too dark of a red which is good. If there is any light at all shining at it then it lights up red. The window is only visible in super direct, bright light but I don’t think it will be visible once set. It’s very well polished and has nice luster. The ring in the photo with the cushion spinel is the setting I plan to use.

Lots of photos. Let me know what you think of the color. It’s not neon but hopefully it looks better than garnet.

 

[Autumn in New England]

How exciting! So the window is small, and they're always more noticeable on the hand for some reason (perhaps because the keel/culet touches the skin). I think it will mostly close when set. Love the fluorescence... wow! This is a very rich, fully saturated red. Yet, it avoids being overly dark. It is especially lovely in that last shot. I really like it, especially for the price range! How do you feel about it? Is it "the" one?

 

[CaseyLouLou]

How exciting! So the window is small, and they're always more noticeable on the hand for some reason (perhaps because the keel/culet touches the skin). I think it will mostly close when set. Love the fluorescence... wow! This is a very rich, fully saturated red. Yet, it avoids being overly dark. It is especially lovely in that last shot. I really like it, especially for the price range! How do you feel about it? Is it "the" one?

Thanks! I’m definitely keeping it, especially considering it will fit perfectly into that preowned setting. I would also describe it as a ‘rich red’. I honestly have nothing red to compare it to, not even a garnet so I can’t really say if it’s a good red spinel or not but it’s very pretty and I will enjoy it for sure. It’s brighter in real life than in the photos. Are you able to tell from the photos that it’s a spinel and not a garnet?

Here’s a few more photos in brighter light. It was late in the day so I will try to get some better sun shots tomorrow.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

@CaseyLouLou it looks nothing like a garnet!!!! Dem garnets are dark!!!! Daaaaaaark!!!!

I don't see any orange either but even if I saw purple polka dots, as long as you love it, that's what matters!!!!

It's very pretty!!!

I empathize with the photos being darker! Story of my Spess which appears magically brown as soon as the picture file is created whereas my eye is seeing pumpkin orange!

 

[Mrsz1ppy]

I love the sparks of lighter color! And of course the fluorescence.

I don’t know if there is a technical term for it, but I look for flashes of a lighter color as opposed to a darker color when looking at colored stones.

My CS with fluorescence are crazy fun in the grocery store!

I think you found a winner.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

YEP, this is a good one. I'm so glad you're happy with it, 'cause me too
It is a candy like, clear body, and rich autumnal cranberry red that goes blood. I love that combination. Very lux. I even like the extinction patterns and the window isn't bad. That's a huge plus. Is it a sparkler? It looks like it would be. I know how hard it is to get the color to read correctly in a photo. I'd love to see a video sometime. It's the variation of shades that I love the best in spinel, unique in a way I can't really articulate.
Anyway, I love the shade and I think it will make quite a ring.

 

[CaseyLouLou]

My CS with fluorescence are crazy fun in the grocery store!

Now I need to go grocery shopping. I can’t tell if it really does anything special in the sun because of the fluorescence or not. For some reason I like the velvety appearance it has in the shade.

Is it a sparkler? It looks like it would be.

It does sparkle more than I expected but it’s more of a shiny luster than a sparkle maybe. It is nicely polished and I can’t find any inclusions.

The lack of inclusions worries me a bit because I don’t have much faith in the lab they used which was GFCO. But I know spinels tend to be clean. Should I worry? I could send it to GIA but that costs a fair amount relative to the cost of the stone.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

Now I need to go grocery shopping. I can’t tell if it really does anything special in the sun because of the fluorescence or not. For some reason I like the velvety appearance it has in the shade.



It does sparkle more than I expected but it’s more of a shiny luster than a sparkle maybe. It is nicely polished and I can’t find any inclusions.

The lack of inclusions worries me a bit because I don’t have much faith in the lab they used which was GFCO. But I know spinels tend to be clean. Should I worry? I could send it to GIA but that costs a fair amount relative to the cost of the stone.

No, spinel crystal is normally pretty clean. GFCO is a smaller Swiss lab with some satellites. The man who runs it was AIGS trained.

GFCO GEM LAB - INDEX

GFCO Swiss Gemological Laboratory

www.gfcogemlab.ch

ABOUT US * SSGL - SWISS SINO GEMOLOGICAL LABORATORY GMBH

ABOUT US * SSGL - SWISS SINO GEMOLOGICAL LABORATORY GMBH

www.ssgl.swiss

 

[CaseyLouLou]

YEP, this is a good one. I'm so glad you're happy with it, 'cause me too
It is a candy like, clear body, and rich autumnal cranberry red that goes blood. I love that combination. Very lux. I even like the extinction patterns and the window isn't bad. That's a huge plus. Is it a sparkler? It looks like it would be. I know how hard it is to get the color to read correctly in a photo. I'd love to see a video sometime. It's the variation of shades that I love the best in spinel, unique in a way I can't really articulate.
Anyway, I love the shade and I think it will make quite a ring.

I took this video yesterday later in the day and hopefully it gives an idea of the sparkle and shine but the color is a mess. You can see how the camera auto adjusts constantly and gets it all wrong. It’s red, not whatever awful colors are showing up!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

I hear you @CaseyLouLou

I just relate to this so much!!!!

Again my Spess! Vendor was sending me brown looking photos and guaranteeing that the stone was vivid and not brown. I actually feel super guilty for being such a pain about the stone because now that I've received it, most of my photos of it are brown or whatever ghastly shade!!!!!

And my heart tourmaline is not purple but it has this weird purple hue in 95% of the pics!!!!

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

I took this video yesterday later in the day and hopefully it gives an idea of the sparkle and shine but the color is a mess. You can see how the camera auto adjusts constantly and gets it all wrong. It’s red, not whatever awful colors are showing up!

Mine do the same, all of them to some degree, actually. Doesn't matter red or blue or pad. They never photograph or video quiiite right. I still think it's fabulous and I know from trying to do my own that I can at least guess what color your spinel really is. To fix the issue takes editing, and I have no idea how to do that. I just point and shoot.
I can't for the life of me get them to show the complete accurate color most of the time It's another reason I love them though, all those lovely moods.
I hope you enjoy your pretty spinel and I can't wait to see the finished ring!

 

[voce]

Congratulations; sounds like it's a keeper. I do see orange in the undertone in most your photos, but it's very very slight and subtle. It does not look like a garnet, which would either have a purplish (rhodolite) undertone or a brownish (almandine) undertone with more extinction in direct sunlight. Did you show us the stone in the setting you intend for it?

 

[CaseyLouLou]

Congratulations; sounds like it's a keeper. I do see orange in the undertone in most your photos, but it's very very slight and subtle. It does not look like a garnet, which would either have a purplish (rhodolite) undertone or a brownish (almandine) undertone with more extinction in direct sunlight. Did you show us the stone in the setting you intend for it?

Thanks. I am starting to be able to make out the orange a bit and it is very subtle which is, of course, what I wanted. As long as it looks red to me then I figure it’s a winner.

This is the setting I plan to use. It has a very windowed and included purplish spinel in it but I bought it for the setting. It happens to be the same size stone so it was a lucky find.

 

[CaseyLouLou]

Congratulations; sounds like it's a keeper. I do see orange in the undertone in most your photos, but it's very very slight and subtle. It does not look like a garnet, which would either have a purplish (rhodolite) undertone or a brownish (almandine) undertone with more extinction in direct sunlight. Did you show us the stone in the setting you intend for it?

Here’s a preview of the spinel in the setting at my jewelers. The prongs need to be rebuilt so it will be a week or two before I have it in hand.

I’m psyched because you can see that the window is gone! The color looks amazing in the jeweler’s lighting too although I’m sure the photos are showing the wrong color.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Girl you move fast!!!!! It looks great!!! Can't wait to see you wear it!

 

[CaseyLouLou]

Girl you move fast!!!!! It looks great!!! Can't wait to see you wear it!

Ha! Well, I had my eye on this setting and when I realized that the spinel would fit I pulled the trigger and it arrived a few days before the spinel. I tried to convince my jeweler to hurry up and set the stone but he’s super busy so it will be a week or two of waiting impatiently.

 

[voce]

A week or two is a reasonable wait imo. Your spinel looks much better there than the previous stone.

 

[CaseyLouLou]

This is the thread that I meant to update earlier with photos of the finished ring. I’m really happy with this spinel.

Indirect sunlight near a window indoors




Away from a window in natural light




Indoor lighting at night

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

You did very well!!!! It's really pretty!!! Lovely colour and the setting is perfect for it!!!

 

[Autumn in New England]

This is THE perfect setting for that stone. They compliment each other beautifully. Score! Enjoy your new pretty!!

 

[CBianco]

Beautiful! The stone fits that setting so perfectly, it looks custom made

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

Told ya! It is candy loveliness. It really does look like that mount was made for it.

 

[Mrsz1ppy]

This is the thread that I meant to update earlier with photos of the finished ring. I’m really happy with this spinel.

Indirect sunlight near a window indoors




Away from a window in natural light




Indoor lighting at night

The spinel looks fantastic in all of the lights. Perfect setting for the stone. Well done!

 

[kgizo]

Beautiful!! The spinel looks amazing in that setting!

 

[Ionysis]

Isn’t it incredibly how the right setting can just illuminate a stone. It looked good on your hand but it looks GREAT in the ring. What a win!

 

[bling_dream19]

This came out beautifully! Your fire engine red spinel and beautiful make a gorgeous ring!

 

[Arthur Kennedy]

Oh really? Interesting! It seems I'm not the only one who found her to be less than amenable, which is a relief. I do consider myself rather equitable, so when I can't mesh with a seller in that respect, I'm fairly confident the fault lies with them. lol

Ok, I will keep my eyes open for truer red options! Also, for calibrated stones in that price range, I would absolutely recommend browsing JTV.

I agree with your assessment! You couldn't be more helpful and pleasant, so if YOU are having an issue with a seller.... I would blame them.

I'm actually interested in buying a tiny vibrant red spinel myself (preferably of Burmese origin) at the best price possible. A 5×4 mm oval would be perfect. Any ideas?